About this book - The diary of wimpy kid

Author	Jeff Kinney
Illustrator	Jeff Kinney
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Genre	Children's
Publisher	Amulet Books (US) Puffin Books (UK)
Publication date	November 5, 2013[1]
Media type	Print (paperback, hardcover)
Pages	217[1]
ISBN	978-1-4197-1132-9
Preceded by	The Third Wheel
Followed by	The Long Haul

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hard Luck is a children's novel written by Jeff Kinney and the eighth book in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.[2][3] It was released on November 5, 2013.[1] In this book, Greg's best friend Rowley ditches him, and Greg struggles to make new friends. On Easter, he finds a Magic 8-Ball and attempts to change his luck by using it to make decisions for him. Hard Luck received generally positive reviews from critics and was the bestselling book of 2013.

Hard Luck opens with Greg recalling his mother's words that "friends will come and go but family is forever." He agrees with this statement, as Rowley has been refusing to hang out with him and agreeing with everything Abigail says since they started going out. Getting bored without Rowley, Greg takes his mother's advice to "branch out" and meet the kids in the neighborhood. He chooses to befriend his strange neighbour named Fregley. After Greg tries to get him to be funny during lunch, Fregley becomes popular with other students when they find out that he can "chew" food with his belly button.